The Ondo State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has dissociated itself from the petition written by one Biyi Poroye against the previous Appeal Court Judges sitting on the appeals filed by Eyitayo Jegede, the authentic candidate of the party, against the order of Justice Okon Abang of the Federal High Court Abuja.
On Tuesday, Justice Jummai Sankey-led panel disqualified itself from further presiding over the cases after the justices were blackmailed by Jimoh Ibrahim and Ali Modu Sheriff in a dehumanising petition against the Honourable Justice Sankey.
The Appeal Court panel, consequently, returned the files of all the five pending cases to the president of the Court of Appeal, citing a petition by Ali Modu Sheriff-led, a faction chairman of the PDP, and Poroye, accusing members of the panel of being compromised.
Specifically, Justice Sankey was branded as “poor” on the basis of her health challenges and as such, in the view of petitioner, she was also corrupt.
Responding to the bribery allegation, the Ondo State PDP publicity secretary, Banji Okunomo, a former lawmaker, said it has become necessary for the party to “let the whole world know that the said petitioner, Biyi Poroye who described himself as PDP chairman in Ondo State in the petition is not the chairman of our party but a mere impersonator awaiting trial”.
“We the entire PDP executives and members in Ondo State wish to inform the whole world and the president of the Court of Appeal in particular that the PDP in Ondo state did not mandate anybody to write a petition against the Appeal Court Panel sitting on the various appeals of the PDP,” the statement, e-mailed to The Trent on Thursday, November 3, 2016, said.
“We received with rude shock that one Biyi Poroye who has been parading himself as chairman of the PDP in the state wrote a petition in the name of our party against the panel of judges,” Okunomo said in the statement.
“Such petition did not emanate from our party, and Poroye was not mandated, authorised or directed to do so on our behalf.
“The self acclaimed Chairman has since been restrained from parading himself or be addressed as Chairman of the PDP in Ondo state by a ruling of an Akure High Court presided over by the Chief Judge of Ondo State, Justice Olasehinde Kumuyi.
“It smacks mental balance that a man would wake up from his slumber one day and proclaim himself to be what he is not,” Okunomo stressed.
